Wiltshire canal boat family face eviction 'for not moving enough'

Steve Holder and his family have lived on their canal boat for 14 years

A family say they are being forced to remove their canal boat home from the waterways and will become homeless.

Steve and Sarah Holder, who have two children, have lived on the boat near Bradford-on Avon for 14 years.

They say the Canal and River Trust (CRT) has now refused to give them a licence, claiming they have not travelled far enough.

The CRT said eviction was a last resort when boaters failed to meet requirements for the licence.

Under the British Waterways Act 1995 boats must be used "bona fide for navigation… without remaining continuously in any one place for more than 14 days or such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances".

The CRT interprets that to mean boaters must be on a continuous journey, mostly in one direction, from one place to another, and must travel at least 15-20 miles a year.

But Pamela Smith, chair of the National Bargee Travellers Association, said it disputed the CRT's interpretation because the law does not specify any distance or travel pattern.

Boaters whose licences had been renewed without question for years were now being told they no longer complied with it, she said.

"We have seen it bite particularly hard on families with school-age children and we consider this to be utterly unjust," she said.

The Holders' two children, aged 14 and 18, attend nearby schools.

'Destroying our community'

Mr Holder said he had travelled 17.7 miles, moving every two weeks, and had pictures to prove it.

But the family have been told to remove their boat by 4 September, which would make them homeless.

Mr Holder said a permanent mooring could cost as much as £6,000 per year, plus the cost of a permanent licence at £1,000.

"This prices most of us out. So they go to wealthy people so they can have a holiday boat, only used for a couple of weeks a year," he said.

"This is gentrifying the canal and destroying our community."

Matthew Symonds from the CRT said it had 34,200 boats on the waterways, and last year removed 17 houseboats because of licence issues.

He said enforced boat removal was a last resort after owners failed to meet guidelines for a licence and where they had not removed their boat themselves.